Since mid 2007 there has been a dramatic rise in prices for basic foods such as internationally traded varieties of rice, corn and wheat. At the moment, it is rather impossible to estimate how far speculation in the commodity markets has contributed to this development. Irrespective of this, a...

Seit Mitte 2007 sind die Preise für Grundnahrungsmittel wie Reis, Mais und Weizen bei international gehandelten Sorten dramatisch gestiegen. In welchem Umfang zu dieser Entwicklung Spekulationen an den Rohstoffmärkten beigetragen haben, lässt sich nicht beziffern. Unabhängig davon setzt eine...

Nach einem drastischen Einbruch im vergangenen Jahr ziehen die Milchpreise wieder an. Doch auch künftig kann es zu Preiseinbrüchen in der Milchwirtschaft kommen. Zum einen wirken sich im Zuge der fortschreitenden Liberalisierung der Agrarmärkte internationale Marktentwicklungen verstärkt auf...

We explore the incentives of a vertically integrated incumbent firm to license the production technology of its core input to an external firm, transforming the licensee into its input supplier. We find that the incumbent opts for licensing even when licensing also transforms the licensee into...

We study the timing of new technology adoption in markets with input outsourcing, and thus with vertical relations. We find that technology adoption can take place earlier when firms engage in input outsourcing than when they produce the input in-house. Hence, the presence of vertical relations...

We study an industry in which an upstream monopolist supplies an essential input at a regulated price to several downstream firms. Legal unbundling means that a downstream firm owns the upstream firm but this upstream firm is legally independent and maximizes its own upstream profits. We allow...

We study an industry with a monopolistic bottleneck (e.g. a transmission network) supplying an essential input to several downstream firms. Under legal unbundling the bottleneck must be operated by a legally independent upstream firm, which may be partly or fully owned by an incumbent active in...

We study upstream horizontal mergers and their potential efficiency gains. We show that an upstream horizontal merger can give rise to two efficiency-enhancing effects when firms trade through two-part tariffs. It increases R&D investments and decreases wholesale prices when downstream...

This paper highlights the strategic role of private quality standards in vertical relations. Considering two symmetric downstream firms that are exclusively supplied by a finite number of upstream firms, we show that there exist asymmetric equilibria in the downstream firms' quality...

This paper studies how investment outcomes in a vertically related industry with a regulated monopolist and downstream competition are affected by diverse regulation imposed investment regimes and the nature of product market competition. We analyze the situation when the regulator determines...